Anecdotally

So, on Saturday, we did that thing where we stocked the pantry in preparation for possible quarantines.

The kids are thrilled. They have already managed to eat half the granola bars that I bought as a quarantine treat. Forget stocking the pantry, I need to be locking the pantry.

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My mother-in-law tells us two stories from Germany. One: The government is bracing for a a large outbreak in the next two weeks as a large number of Germans visited Italy for Carnival. Two: her tenants are heading to Spain on vacation. "Aren't you worried about the coronavirus?" she asked. "Well," they answered, "if we get sick in Germany or get sick in Spain makes no difference. We shouldn't let that keep us from enjoying our vacation."

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On Democratic primary candidates: comparing Bloomberg's preparedness speech to Warren's preparedness speech from almost the same time on Saturday night is revealing. I'm really tired of how many politician have nothing substantive to say. Why are you talking if your words don't have new information? This is a particular problem among the male population.

Remember those early years of elementary school when some kids would raise their hands to answer questions when THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE ANSWER WAS? It was almost always the boys doing this. Obviously, some still do this. Except at ages 73, 77, 78,  we call them politicians and act like this behavior is not just acceptable, but exemplifies LEADERSHIP. It's bull$hit.

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I voted for Warren. We need to get serious about moving this country forward in a principled and strategic way.

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Also: did you know that cognitive flexibility decreases with age? Cognitive flexibility allows us to learn and solve problems. Do you think the average age of our elected government officials might have something to do with our governmental disfunction? What do you think: is there any hope it will get better?